Bairstow left out of England test squad for New Zealand tour

Wednesday, 25 September 2019 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

LONDON (Reuters): England wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow has been left out of the squad for the two-test series in New Zealand but included in the Twenty20 squad for the tour that begins in November, the country’s cricket board (ECB) said on Monday.

Jonny Bairstow

Four uncapped players — Dominic Sibley, Zak Crawley, Matthew Parkinson and Saqib Mahmood — have been called up to the test squad.

Sibley, who scored 1,324 runs in the County Championship for Warwickshire, is expected to compete for an opening spot, while 21-year-old Crawley has earned his place after scoring 820 runs.

Parkinson is set to be spinner Jack Leach’s understudy while Mahmood has been included as veteran fast bowler and England’s leading wicket taker James Anderson is still out of contention while he recovers from a calf injury.

“James Anderson was unavailable for selection in the test squad as he continues his rehabilitation from a calf injury,” the ECB said in a statement.

“The Lancashire seamer will work towards being available for the South Africa tour later this winter.” England begin the New Zeland tour with the first of five T20 matches to be played on 1 November followed by two tests that begin on 21 November and 29 November respectively. The tests will not be a part of the ICC World Test Championship.

England test squad: Rory Burns, Joe Denly, Dominic Sibley, Joe Root (captain), Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Saqib Mahmood, Matthew Parkinson, Jofra Archer, Stuart Broad, Sam Curran and Jack Leach

England T20I squad: Eoin Morgan (captain), Jonny Bairstow, Tom Banton, Sam Billings, Pat Brown, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Joe Denly, Lewis Gregory, Chris Jordan, Saqib Mahmood, Dawid Malan, Matt Parkinson, Adil Rashid, James Vince